Mindset E-Motion - a Swiss hybrid

Swiss company Mindset plans a hybrid sports car to begin production by 2009, aiming to assemble 10,000 units per annum at a price of €50,000/ USD 74,075 each. The company’s idea, the Mindset E-Motion, is a 4.2 metre long car, expressing a wheelbase of some 2.76 metres. Run by a 70kW/ 94 bhp electric motor fed by a lithium ion battery, it promises pollution-free driving. Torque is rated at 220Nm, top speed is also limited to 140km/h. Not sure why this particular limit given the scope of the engine’s capability though. An acceleration time of under 7 seconds from 0 – 100km/h is anticipated.

Behind this Swiss project is a man by the name of Murat Günak who used to ply his trade as chief designer at Volkswagen. Suspicious as it already sounds that the Swiss are trying out for another car (memories of smart Mk I are still fresh), it makes sense they would build a hybrid.

Swiss Mindset AG wants starting from 2009 environmentally conscious customers with a hybrid car in the compact class format to lure. The line of the project is incumbent on the former Volkswagen chief designer Murat Günak. Based on an aluminium spaceframe with a body made from plastic compounds, the E-Motion has an unladen weight of 800kg/ 1,763 lbs. Going tubular on this project, Mindset chose to mould the shape into a form of coupe with a long bonnet, wing doors and a high ride. It defies the definition of an uncool hybrid.